Preface
Iridium catalysis, although not as established as rhodium catalysis, has seen considerable advances in recent years mainly due to its application in the synthesis of fine
chemicals. Owing to the isoelectronic nature of iridium and rhodium, advances in
either area have often been transferred and tested in the respective counterpart. The
discovery by Schrock and Osborn that cationic rhodium phosphine complexes can
be excellent homogeneous hydrogenation catalysts paved the way for Crabtree’s
cationic iridium catalyst, also offering the possibility of incorporating chiral ligands.
From here, Pfaltz et al. and others revealed the potential of iridium catalysts first in
the asymmetric hydrogenation of unsaturated organic bonds, including both imines
and non-functionalized alkene bonds, and later extended this to other reactions that
have proven to be key in the organic synthesis where iridium catalysts today play an
indispensable role. Iridium has often been an alternative to the more studied rhodium
catalyst as demonstrated in the production of acetic acid via the industrial carbonylation of methanol in the Cativa process. Furthermore, due to the stability of
iridium-carbon and iridium-hydrogen bonds, iridium has also played an important
role as a catalytic model because it allows the isolation and characterization of
catalytic intermediates, which are difficult to detect in rhodium catalysis.
The first collection of modern applications of iridium organometallic complexes
in this series was published in 2011 entitled “Iridium Catalysis” edited by Pher
Andersson. Many of the iridium-catalyzed reactions presented in that volume have
shown remarkable advances in the last decade and new applications to obtain
building blocks in organic synthesis have been developed. This new volume of
Topics in Organometallic Chemistry entitled “Iridium Catalysts for Organic Reactions” provides updates on previous topics and summarizes recent progress in
iridium catalysis. The most relevant advances in iridium-catalyzed organic processes
are considered throughout this volume including new developments in the synthesis
of organosilanes, asymmetric hydrogenation, transfer hydrogenation, and
hydroboration. The rapid development of iridium-catalyzed dehydrogenative reactions is described demonstrating that many of these catalytic systems have become
important tools for organic synthesis. Due to the importance and interest in biomass
v
Iridium catalysis, although not as established as rhodium catalysis, has seen considerable advances in recent years mainly due to its application in the synthesis of fine
chemicals. Owing to the isoelectronic nature of iridium and rhodium, advances in
either area have often been transferred and tested in the respective counterpart. The
discovery by Schrock and Osborn that cationic rhodium phosphine complexes can
be excellent homogeneous hydrogenation catalysts paved the way for Crabtree’s
cationic iridium catalyst, also offering the possibility of incorporating chiral ligands.
From here, Pfaltz et al. and others revealed the potential of iridium catalysts first in
the asymmetric hydrogenation of unsaturated organic bonds, including both imines
and non-functionalized alkene bonds, and later extended this to other reactions that
have proven to be key in the organic synthesis where iridium catalysts today play an
indispensable role. Iridium has often been an alternative to the more studied rhodium
catalyst as demonstrated in the production of acetic acid via the industrial carbonylation of methanol in the Cativa process. Furthermore, due to the stability of
iridium-carbon and iridium-hydrogen bonds, iridium has also played an important
role as a catalytic model because it allows the isolation and characterization of
catalytic intermediates, which are difficult to detect in rhodium catalysis.
The first collection of modern applications of iridium organometallic complexes
in this series was published in 2011 entitled “Iridium Catalysis” edited by Pher
Andersson. Many of the iridium-catalyzed reactions presented in that volume have
shown remarkable advances in the last decade and new applications to obtain
building blocks in organic synthesis have been developed. This new volume of
Topics in Organometallic Chemistry entitled “Iridium Catalysts for Organic Reactions” provides updates on previous topics and summarizes recent progress in
iridium catalysis. The most relevant advances in iridium-catalyzed organic processes
are considered throughout this volume including new developments in the synthesis
of organosilanes, asymmetric hydrogenation, transfer hydrogenation, and
hydroboration. The rapid development of iridium-catalyzed dehydrogenative reactions is described demonstrating that many of these catalytic systems have become
important tools for organic synthesis. Due to the importance and interest in biomass
v